Biden signs EO to strengthen US cyber defenses, including the development of cybersecurity standards for software companies that sell to the government
President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at shoring up the federal government's digital defenses as his administration grapples …
It also foreshadows the administration’s later push for minimum standards and greater software-maker responsibility in the national cybersecurity strategy. The related coverage shows a progression from federal procurement and networks toward sector-specific defenses, including ports.
First-order effects
Federal agencies gain a policy basis to strengthen their digital defenses while cybersecurity standards are developed for companies selling software to the government.
Government software vendors face a clearer prospect that security practices will become a condition of federal business, not solely a voluntary product differentiator.
Second-order effects
Federal procurement can turn the government’s security requirements into a common benchmark for suppliers whose products are used across agencies.
The order establishes a policy foundation for the later national strategy’s effort to shift more cybersecurity responsibility toward larger software makers.
Third-order effects
If this standards-through-procurement approach persists, U.S. cyber policy moves toward ecosystem cyber defense: government networks, vendors, and critical-infrastructure operators become parts of the same security perimeter.
The subsequent expansion from federal systems to maritime ports suggests executive-branch cyber policy may increasingly pair baseline requirements with sector-specific enforcement powers.
The trend: U.S. cybersecurity policy is moving from agency-level network protection toward supply-chain standards that use federal purchasing and sector oversight to raise baseline security.
The Colonial Pipeline incident is a sobering reminder that our nation faces sophisticated cyber threats. Today, President Biden signed an executive order to chart a new course to improve the nation's cybersecurity and protect federal government networks. https://www.whitehouse.go…
The Administration's new Cybersecurity Executive Order lays out an ambitious & achievable workplan to dramatically improve the security of US govt networks by using the power of the purse. Kudos to the team for pulling this together. https://www.whitehouse.gov/...
JUST IN: @POTUS Biden signs long-awaited executive order on cybersecurity designed to protect federal networks, improve information-sharing between the government and private sector on cyber issues, and strengthen the U.S. ability to respond to cyber incidents as they occur
This executive order is a good first step, but executive orders can only go so far. Congress will have to step up & do more to address our cyber vulnerabilities, & I look forward to working with the administration & my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to close those gaps. ht…
Cybersecurity is a foundational element of our national security priorities. This is a good first step, but we need to continue to harden our public and private cyber resiliency and aggressively prosecute the use of criminal ransomware. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
1/n It's a bludgeon instead of a scalpel. It drives up the cost of “compliance” with generalities. It assumes people aren't “taking security seriously” so bullies or bribes them into doing so. https://www.whitehouse.gov/...
Great to see @WhiteHouse get this ambitious & timely order signed. - Better threat intel sharing - Standard setting for companies selling to .gov - Incident disclosure requirements for .gov contractors - A cybersecurity incident review board. Etc. Etc. https://www.washingtonpost.…
I remember when @BillGates published Trustworthy Computing Memo in 2002, changing Microsoft's course. As the @WhiteHouse just posted “Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity”, it feels like a similar moment and being taken seriously. https://www.whitehouse.gov/...
.@POTUS signed an executive order today stating that agencies should “participating in a vulnerability disclosure program that includes a reporting and disclosure process.” This will be the path to more gov bug bounties and @Hacker0x01 is here to serve! https://www.whitehouse.gov…
I want to thank the administration for not releasing this on a Friday afternoon. Still making my way through it, but just happy it's a Wednesday. https://www.whitehouse.gov/...